Many consumer and industrial vehicles use automatic transmissions filled with automatic transmission fluid (ATF) as the working fluid and to aid in cooling the transmission. In typical configurations, automatic transmissions are equipped with a cooling system, such as an oil cooler, that may be located, for instance, inside an automobile radiator. The automatic transmission fluid is cycled through the oil cooler to regulate its temperature and then back into the transmission in order to keep the transmission cool.
The importance of maintaining fresh and clean transmission fluid is essential in keeping the transmission cool. At regular intervals, the automatic transmission fluid should be removed from the transmission and replaced with fresh fluid as the fluid properties degrade with time and in use. Entrained contaminants and debris, not fully removed by the transmission's filter assembly, can clog the oil cooler, the result of which is that proper ATF flow through the oil cooler and to the transmission is prevented. Improper ATF flow can cause the transmission to overheat and produce serious, if not, permanent damage.
In instances where a transmission is replaced, it is important to test the ATF flow through a reused oil cooler which is reconnected to the new transmission. This is to ensure that no debris from the replaced transmission was transferred into the reconnected oil cooler during its original use. Such debris can prohibit fluid flow to the newly installed transmission once the entire system is reconnected. If fluid flow is prohibited by any debris within the oil cooler, the efficiency of providing thermal dissipation to the circulating fluid is greatly inhibited. Thus, a newly installed transmission will not be properly cooled due to a combination of the lack of fluid it receives from the blocked oil cooler or the improperly maintained temperature regulation of the fluid being received from the cooler. The result, of which, ruins the newly installed transmission due to overheating.
A need still exists, therefore, for an evaluation of fluid flow to the cooling system which identifies whether the fluid is continuously flowing properly. A need further exists for a flushing step that agitates the fluid in order to break loose any debris within the oil cooler and effectively cleans the cooling system in an efficient manner.